A/N: Woo hoo, here we go againnn! :P

Another chapter, another awesome review, right?

I love all you reviewers who have reviewed so far! This is only my second story!

Now onward with the chapter!

Finally. One day down, four more to go. I smiled as I stepped off the school bus, Jonesy right behind me. We had the rest of the day to spend together, and boy was I ready for it.

"Ready to face the great unknown Jonesy?" I asked, adjusting my backpack on my shoulder.

"You know it Wybourne," She replied, giving me a light punch in the arm. "Where are we exploring today?"

I thought for a moment, rubbing my arm. Even if she didn't punch it that hard. It was a habit. "What if we just hang out at the well? Or the creek? Or…in the woods? There's bound to be some cool animals to find. Maybe the banana slugs are out…" I was babbling.

"Okay…I'll meet you at the well then?" Jonesy raised an eyebrow at me. She didn't point out how much I talk anymore. She's used to it.

"See you there Jonesy!" I called as I made my way towards home. She waved and started to do the same. I smiled again as her blue hair caught in the afternoon sun, shining like a sapphire. Wait-sun? I glanced up at the sky, surprised that the sun was out. It was almost always covered by clouds in the fall.

Today was gonna be a good day.

~*~

I walked in the door to my house. It was…a normal house, I guess. Nothing too fancy, but nothing too out-of-style. I sniffed the air and licked my lips. It smelled like gramma's chocolate chip cookies.

I set my backpack down and made my way into the kitchen, where gramma was pulling out a batch of chocolate chip cookies from the oven, pink oven mitts on her hands. She smiled and set the fresh cookies on the table to cool off.

"Good afternoon Wybourne. How was your day?" She asked, sitting down at the table.

"Hey gramma. My day was good." I gave her the gist of my day as I sat down across from her at the table, eyeing those cookies. I loved Grandma's cookies. All of her baking was great, actually. It was so good that sometimes Jonesy would come over and have dinner with us.

Gramma caught what I was looking at. "Be careful, I'd let them cool before you grab 'em. They're hot."

I waited a couple minutes until they were cool enough, then grabbed three and stuffed them into my mouth. They tasted like heaven. "Mmm," I moaned. "These are great Gramma."

"I try," She smiled. "And don't talk with your mouth full Wybourne."

I swallowed before replying. "S-sorry Gram." I smiled sheepishly, before grabbing more cookies.

After seven cookies and a changed outfit, I stood on the porch and stuffed my journal inside one of my many coat pockets. I could write something down about the well. Or about Jonesy… I thought, hopping off the steps and going to my shed to get my bike.

I loved the shed. Sure, it was small, but it had a workbench full of all my tools and gizmos, and that was enough for me. I also kept my bike in there. Made it myself.

Right now, it had a popped tire, so I decided to replace it before heading over to the well. It wouldn't take long, I had an extra somewhere. I started searching through the shed, looking for a tire. A tire…a tire…hmm….Got'cha!

I grabbed the large tire from one of the shelves and hefted it over to Frankensteena. Yeah, that's what I call my bike. Don't judge me. Inventors name their inventions, right? Right.

After fixing her tire, I hopped on Frankensteena and grabbed my welding mask from the nearby shelf. Jamming the skeletal-painted object over my face, I started pedaling to the well, waiting for the homemade motor to kick in.

I took a short cut through the woods. It led me to the top of a hill, where I could get a clear view of the well, and even the Pink Palace in the background. The large, faded-pink palace was where Jonesy lived. And where that witch lived.

Speaking of Jonesy, I saw her sitting on the old stump that sat by the well. I counted its rings once, and recorded its number in my journal. One hundred and eight rings in all. That means that the tree itself was one hundred and eight years old when it was cut down. It was old.

Might as well make an entrance. Positioning myself in a perfect, four-foot-tall-wheelie, I sped down the hill and braked right in front of the stump, spraying a little bit of mud on Jonesy. I lifted my mask and smiled.

"Heeyyy Jonesy."

Coraline smirked. "Hello, Why-Were-You-Born." She stood up off the stump while I hopped off Frankensteena and let her fall into the mud. "Decided where we're going yet?"

"W-what about the creek?" I suggested. "I bet the frogs are out today."

"The creek it is then! C'mon Why-Were-You-Born, let's go!" She started marching off in the direction of the creek. I followed a goofy smile on my face. If I found a frog, I could let Jonesy take some pictures of me doing stuff with it. Maybe…Frogzilla! Frogzilla 'cause everything that ends with 'zilla' is cool. Duh.

Once we got to the creek, I immediately bent over and started hunting for insects or frogs. They were always by the creek.

I discovered the creek before Jonesy moved in. I was exploring the woods and heard the sound of running water and followed it to a clearing. It was great. There was wildflowers and grasshoppers and the creek ran right through the middle. The water was almost deep enough to swim in. Three feet to be exact.

Jonesy and I never bothered to follow it and see where it went, 'cause it would probably lead to the local river or somethin'.

While I was busy hunting creepy crawlies, Jonesy was balancing on a fallen log that ran across the creek. It was covered with moss, and was bound to be slick.

"Careful Jonesy," I warned her, seeing her foot slip once or twice.

She rolled her eyes and stuck out her arms to help her keep balance. "Don't be such a worry wart Wybourne. I'll be fi- woah!!"

I heard a splash and glanced up to see Jonesy had fallen into the creek. I put a gloved hand over my mouth to shield my snickering. "You were warned." I told her.

She growled and moved a strand of wet, blue hair away from her face. She looked pale in the sunlight. Not pale ugly, pale pretty.

"What are you starin' at?" Jonesy asked, an eyebrow raised. I didn't know I was staring. I quickly averted my gaze.

"N-nothing!" I stuttered. "Just…Uh…The water's sparkling in the sunlight." I'm a terrible liar.

"Uh huhhh…" She dragged out the words, unbelieving of my excuse.

Like I said, terrible liar.

~*~

Dear Jonesy,

I sat in my bed, pencil and journal in hand. It was almost nine thirty, my bedtime. I felt like I needed to write something to Jonesy though.

It was more than just that. I needed to giver her one of these notes someday. But what if she doesn't like me the way I like her…?

I sighed and frowned. That was the only problem. I was barely a friend to her. She probably only hung out with me because I was the only kid who lived close to her. What am I thinking? If I told her how I feel, she'd punch me so hard…And probably never talk to me again.

I looked at my scars on my right hand. I've been looking at 'em a lot lately. I don't know why. I fingered them with my thumb. Three long, ugly scars. Proof that the Beldam really did exist.

Proof that Coraline and I were friends.

Maybe it could prove we were more. Or could be more.

More than just...me.